A 12-person jury was unable to arrive at a unanimous verdict this afternoon for Neville Forde who was on trial for allegedly shooting and killing Sophia bread vendor Andre Alexander in May 2017. Instead, the jury recorded 11 guilty verdicts and one not guilty.
Forde was remanded to prison where he awaits a new trial, which is expected to commence at the next session of the Demerara assizes.
On Monday, another man, Shaquille Grant, who was also on trial with Forde, was freed after Justice Navindra Singh upheld a no-case submission and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
According to reports, Alexander, also known as ‘Bread Man’, 42, was selling bread at his stand a few houses away from his home when two men on a motorcycle approached him.
One of them requested three loaves of bread with a $5,000 bill. As Alexander turned to make change the “customer” pulled out a gun and demanded him to hand over cash.
It was reported that Alexander put up a fight and the gunman shot him. The men then made good their escapes on the motorcycle.
Attorneys-at-law Nigel Hughes and Adrian Thompson appeared for Grant and Forde, respectively.
Prosecutors Teriq Mohamed, Tuanna Hardy, and Sarah Martin appeared for the State.
In relation to the acquittal of Grant, the prosecution on Monday gave oral notice of its intention to appeal.
